Iowa WR Jerminic Smith is leaving the football team

Per a release from Iowa athletics, Smith and the football program have mutually agreed to part ways. The sophomore wide receiver started nine games for the Hawkeyes in the 2016 season, and caught 23 passes for 314 yards, two scores and a 13.7 yards per catch average.

In a statement, head coach Kirk Ferentz detailed why Smith is leaving the program, and wished him the best.

“We have mutually agreed that at this point it is in everyone’s best interest that Jerminic starts a new chapter in his collegiate career,”Ferentz in the release. “We wish him success moving forward.”

Smith was recruited to Iowa City from Garland, Texas, as a 3-star wide receiver prospect in the Iowa recruiting class of 2015.

On April 7, it was announced that Smith was suspended from team activities due to his academics. While announcing the suspension, Ferentz said Smith did not meet the “academic standards, class attendance and study hours.”

Smith’s departure leaves a gaping hole in the Hawkeyes receiving corps, as Matt VandeBerg will be the most experienced receiver on Iowa’s roster.

Iowa will have 7 scholarship receivers by the beginning of Fall. Only one caught a pass for the Hawkeyes.

Smith was expected to be one of the premier pass catchers for Iowa in 2017, considering his experience as well as the fact Ferentz has yet to name a successor for the former-Iowa, now-49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard.